First-Year Programs

Summer Reading Program

The Summer Reading Program is designed to engage the Lehigh community
in discussions around relevant themes in the book. Students will
discuss the book with their Orientation group and a faculty or staff
member during Orientation.

Selection Process:

The
selection process for the Summer Reading program takes place
throughout the fall and beginning of the spring semesters.If you have a book you would like to recommend for the 2014
academic year, please submit
your recommendation.

2013 Summer Reading Selection:
The Madonnas of Echo Park

Past Selections:(2012) The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
(2011) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca
Skloot
(2010) Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
(2008, 2009) Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
(2007) Freedom in Exile by The Dalai Lama
(2006) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
(2005) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
(2004) Copenhagen by Michael Frayn(2003) Nickel &
Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

If you have a book recommendation that you would like the
Book Selection Committee to consider, please complete the recommendation form.

Submit
a Reflection to the Lehigh Review!

The Lehigh Review is an entirely student-produced journal.
Each issue contains some of the best scholarly writing by Lehigh
undergraduates. This year first-year students will have the
opportunity to write a reflection of the Summer Reading Book, The
Madonnas of Echo Park and submit it to be part of the
First-Year Voices section of the Lehigh Review.

Responses should be emailed to lehighreview2014@gmail.com
by Tuesday, October 1st. Written responses should make some kind of
interpretive claim about one of the prompts in 500 to 1000 words.
Files should be sent in .doc or .docx format.

Visual responses should respond to one of the prompts in some way and
may be composed of any medium of your choosing (watercolor, pencil,
digital, sculpture, etc.). Files should be sent in .jpeg format in the
highest resolution possible. Questions can be sent to Allison Ragon in
the Office of the First-Year Experience at alr404@lehigh.edu
or Catherine Burton of the Lehigh Review at cab309@lehigh.edu.

“I'm
not sure this is my
old neighborhood anymore. I drive in, visit my mother, then drive
out.
I haven't explored around here for years for a reason; Echo Park
has a
hard time letting you go.” (Skyhorse 153)

Please respond to one of the following:

1) What does it mean for
a neighborhood to have “a hard time letting you go”? Explain in
context of the
novel as well as from your own experiences. Will your hometown let you
go? How
might this process of resistance and/or release affect your
understanding of
your own identity?

2) Many of the
characters in the book have identities that are deeply rooted in and
connected to
their neighborhood of Echo Park. Characters who relocate thus often
find
themselves struggling to adjust emotionally, unsure of how they define
themselves in relation to both their old and new surroundings. Do you
believe your
self-identity is tied to the area in which you grew up? In what ways?
How do
you imagine that identity might be challenged and/or changed when you
leave
home and come to Lehigh? How will your new neighborhood of South
Bethlehem
influence your self-perception?

3) In The Madonnas of Echo Park, it is widely
acknowledged
that the neighborhood of Echo Park changes dramatically over time.
However,
characters have differing reactions to such change: think, for
example, about
Aurora Esperanza and Freddy, who struggle with acclimating to those
changes,
while characters like Duchess and Angie seem to readily accept them.
How do you
imagine you will react to perceived changes in your hometown, after
you have
spent significant time away at college?

STRONG INTEREST INVENTORY

First-Year
Students in the College of Business and Economics (CBE) and
student-athletes who are members of a varsity sport program need to
complete the Strong Interest Inventory®. The Strong Interest
Inventory® can help you make decisions about academic and career
exploration.

Business
Students

As a first-year CBE student, you will be taking BUS 001 –
Introduction to Business. In preparation for this course, you must
complete the Strong Interest Inventory®. The results of this
assessment will be used by your instructors in assigning groups and
will be a resource for you and your advisor as you make decisions
about a major and ultimately your chosen career.

You should complete the Strong Interest Inventory® test no later than
August 1, 2013.

Student Athletes

As a first-year student-athlete of a varsity sport program, you will
be participating in a first year student-athlete fall semester program
called Lehigh P.R.I.D.E. (Personal Responsibility in Determining
Excellence). In preparation for this program, you must complete the
Strong Interest Inventory®. The results of this assessment will be
discussed the day before Orientation (Wednesday, August 21) and will
be a resource for you as you make decisions about a major and
ultimately your chosen career. You should complete the Strong Interest
Inventory® test no later than August 1, 2013.

To
complete the inventory, follow these instructions:

*Please
note: If you are a first year student-athlete in the College of
Business and Economics (CBE), you will take the assessment through
the CBE and do NOT need to take it again for the P.R.I.D.E. program.

After
clicking on the URL you will be prompted to fill out a demographics
page.

Provide
the requested demographic information.

Click
CONTINUE.

Follow
all directions to complete your assessment.

Respond
to every item (there are close to 300 questions), answering the
questions as spontaneously as possible. Don’t think about how you
“should” answer the question. The right answer is how you most
accurately feel about the answer.

After
completing the assessment, click CONTINUE at the bottom of the page.

Write
down your USER ID.

When
you have completed the assessment, click LOGOUT.

If
for any reason you cannot complete an assessment in its entirety, be
sure to click SAVE & COMPLETE LATER, so your responses will be
saved and can be recovered when you resume.

*Follow all directions given to complete the inventory. You will
need 30-45 minutes to answer all of the questions. If you have any
questions during the self-administration process, please contact
Career Services at 610-758-3710. Thank you for your participation.

Lehigh is working to create a healthier and safer living and learning
environment by reducing high-risk drinking and related consequences.
We believe that high-risk drinking affects interpersonal, social, and
residential life in many ways. As a new Lehigh student, you are
expected to complete the AlcoholEdu program before you arrive on
campus. AlcoholEdu is an online, science-based program that provides
detailed information about alcohol and its effects on the body and
mind. The goal of the course is to help you to make well-informed
decisions about alcohol and to help you cope with the drinking
behavior of your peers. More information is available on the campus
portal.